The Politicization of K-12 Education

Abstract

The September report on the 36th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools did not go into the finer demographic distinctions that most polls explore. In this election year, Mr. Rose takes a closer look at the data to analyze how various subgroups of the population view the parties' and candidates' stances on education. MUCH OF the data collected in polling efforts goes unreported and unnoticed. The information gathered for the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools is no exception. In the 2004 poll, the Gallup Organization summarized the data collected in tabulations that required 210 pages. Within those pages, the data were disaggregated according to gender, race, age, political affiliation, education, region of the country, occupation, type of community, income level, and children in school or not. This exercise produced 41 subgroups, and for the 16-page report in the September Kappan, Alec Gallup and I extracted and summarized findings and drew conclusions. But we made little use of the information about these subgroups. In this article, I delve further into the 2004 data, focusing on the five questions that deal specifically with the politics of education. These questions cover issues that are currently being debated in the Presidential election. I include data from previous polls to provide a more comprehensive picture. However, I offer one caution. In addition to reporting data, I go further in this article than in the September report in attempting to identify cause-and-effect relationships. Where this is the case, the speculative nature of the comments is made clear so that readers can decide for themselves whether they seem valid. K-12 Education Becomes a Major Political Issue In recent years, K-12 education has emerged as an important consideration at all levels of government. Although traditionally regarded as a local responsibility, in the last 40 years of the 20th century, K-12 education evolved into an important political issue at both the state and federal levels. Generally, that trend has meant that power has shifted from the local to the state level and above. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 marked the beginning of serious federal involvement. And today, with the latest version of ESEA, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, some contend that the federal government is seeking, or perhaps already playing, a far more dominant role. Funding considerations triggered, in large part, the shift of control from the local to the state level. Ironically, some of the change can be attributed to the desire on the part of the states to limit spending. But at the same time, the demand for the equalization of educational services, a demand that requires funding that local communities cannot provide, has led the states to become ever more involved in the funding of local schools. And, given that funding and control are inseparable, shifting funding to the state level has tended to shift control there as well. Funding is also an issue for the federal government, as it increases its role through NCLB. Many contend that greater federal involvement must be accompanied by significantly more federal dollars. And, finally, education has become more politicized as we have moved from a society in which higher levels of education were considered the province of the few to one in which a high-quality education is viewed as both a universal right and a necessity for individual welfare. Political Matters and the PDK/Gallup Poll Over time, polls can track trends related to issues in education. Therefore, as educational issues have become more deeply enmeshed in political considerations, the PDK/Gallup poll has taken on a political focus. And the issues covered in the poll have evolved into the same ones that are dominating the political scene. For a short time, education actually topped the list of national concerns. …